


The way back home

by gutterfortunecookie



Category: The Revenant (2016), Tom Hardy - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Cunnilingus, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Marriage of Convenience, Pregnancy, Wedding Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6066082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutterfortunecookie/pseuds/gutterfortunecookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Fitzgerald slowly makes his way back home before a harsh blizzard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 _Almost home,_ he told himself as he pried his eyes awake.

John Fitzgerald tried to think of anything possible to keep him awake after the long ride from the east territory. He had been awake for two whole days after abandoning the group. He had given no sympathy to Glass or his kid. If he had stayed, he would have killed them all for sure. So in the dead of night, he grabbed what he could, two of the six horses being first, then the sacks of stolen supplies to bring home.

John fought everything in his power to only take the top few layer of skin and leave the rest behind for the others to sell once they got to Fort Kiowa. He loaded as much as he could to both horse and head north in the opposite direction towards home.

At times, he looked to Glass’ boy and saw the Arikara that tried to scalp him in his earlier years. He found himself dozing as he looked over his shoulder to the vast fields that stretched beyond his eye sight. No one was riding in his direction. He smiled crossing the same land but a year ago. He had been in trapping parties for years and traded off furs for the first time in the Fort. Henry knew that John wasn’t a people person but put him to the front when he lashed out to Hawk Glass for touching his canteen.

John had impatiently shifted from foot to foot giving possible traders a reason to look elsewhere. Near the end of the day, he had over sold a few skin and pocketed the money for himself. More money for mead or local ale to stock up on for home. He rolled his eyes, thinking if he remembered to shut the front door before he left.

He didn’t care because there was no one waiting for him. Not now, not…

He remembered how a small but noticeable shriek from behind him as a well-dressed man pulling a lady from her feet to the shadows as no one took notice. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to move forward to them as he abandoned the skins and listened closely over the people of the fort.

“Stupid bitch. You go back and apologize to my father, after all we have done for you.”

“You kept me as a pet, Samuel and you can all go to Hell.”

A slap was heard as a few people looked to the alley and carried on with their day but John was different as he heard the woman cry. He turned into the alley as the man towered over her. He raise his hand as the woman curled into a ball.

“One more move like that…”

“…and I will break your hand.”

John turned the man around and hit him in the face. No sooner than the man had hit the ground, he was on his feet and tackled John to the dirt both men fought as the woman jump on Samuel’s back. He watched as Samuel grabbed the woman and threw her into the side of a cabin as she fell to the ground with her bonnet rolling from her head and blood dripping from a small cut on her neck.

John’s yells of fury sent the members of the trapping party to break up the group as Samuel reached into his boot. John was hauled to his feet, looking to the woman reach for the top of a wooden barrel. She planted her foot in the ground and swung the wood into Samuel’s face as the sound of breaking wooden turned everyone to her, looking as a hunting knife sailed to the ground in front of them.

The man howled in pain and reached for the woman as John tore her away. Henry looked over his shoulder to John telling him to either get to the stand or go home for the rest of the year. John didn’t listen as he pulled the woman to safety near the booth were people were distracted by the skins.

“Hey,” he quietly hissed to her, “you fine?”

He held out his flask to her and she snatched it away as she took a large sip of his mead. She swallowed harshly and pushed it back to his chest.

“I can’t stay here.”

“What?”

“Thank you stranger for saving me but I can’t stay here another minute.”

“You’re gonna die out there, you know.”

“I am more than content about that.”

He cursed to himself and reached forward for her as she stopped.

“What would your parents say?”

“I have none, Stranger.”

“John.”

“I have none, Stranger John.”

He bit his lips and looked around as he stepped closer to her.

“I can get you to the next town but that is it. Get what you need and be back here behind the cart. If I don’t see you by sundown then I leave you here as a blushing bride.”

She shook her head and was gone. The rest of the day was met with silence as he waited for the young woman to return. As the sun began to set over the edge of the fort, John began to pack his things and load his cart. He pulled the sheet up from the back of his cart, seeing the young woman already hiding with two cases beside her.

John nodded and loaded the cart around her. He kept a watchful eye and placed a few stolen furs over her for safe keeping and to make sure she would last the night until they made the next town.

“Stay quiet until I say so.”

She shook her head as John wrapped her tightly and prayed that she wouldn’t make a sound. They made the gate and passed through without a sound. Once they were out of sight, John whipped his horses and sped them away to the next town. He remembered the excitement in his body as the idea of pulling the young woman from her known roots settled.

He opened his eyes seeing the edge of the town. _Sleep_ , he told himself. _She’ll still be there_ , he had hoped to himself as he steered his horses towards civilization for the night.

“Please, Lord. Let her still be waiting for me…”


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

It wasn’t the same town or the direction but he felt the familiarity all the same. He put his horses in the inn’s stables and secured his things for the rest of the night. He paid for one room one night as he stripped away his months of grueling to make a better life.

By the light of his lantern, by washed most of himself and decided what to do with his beard. He wanted to be presentable but he always enjoyed the giggle from his wife whenever he left kisses to her neck. He rolled to his side, again, remembering her.

There was a storm coming in early that winter but it was better the sooner he left the fort. The town had been small for his taste but it would do for the long trip ahead. He was annoyed by her yawning as he swatted at the pile of skins behind him.

“Look alive. We’re here!”

“What?”

It was very well dark when the woman crawled out from her spot in the cart.

“What did you expect? A castle? Get out of my cart.”

He went to reach for her when she flung the skins and frantically looked around.

“Where are we?”

“The next town as promised.”

“Did you have to pick the one nearest to the fort?! They’re going to find me and take me back!”

“Find work in the morning and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just don’t bend over any of the patrons.”

John stepped out from the stables when the door slammed behind him. He rolled his eyes again as he pounded on the wooden door.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m staying in the cart where its warm. I’ll leave in the morning with my things and I’ll make sure no one steals your things.”

“Deal.”

He turned to the path leading back to the inn but stopped dead in his tracks when the thought out the young woman freezing and catching a death of a cold made him feel uneasy.

“Dammit…”

John turned and kicked in the door as the woman was caught off guard. He yanked her from the wagon and pulled her to the inn’s front door.

“Keep quiet and keep your head down,” he ordered.

She was quiet as he led them to the front desk. John took her hand gingerly as the man at the front desk looked up.

“A room for me and my wife.”

John reached for his money as he saw her blush.

“May we have a spare blanket? She tends to grow cold during the night.”

“Yes, sir.”

They were lead to their room and left in silence as the woman pressed herself to the wall.

“You have a name?”

“Emmeline.”

She didn’t see his smile due to her staring at the bed in fear.

“Don’t worry, the bed is yours but be cautious of me if you chose to go out.”

“I promise I won’t step on you.”

“It’s not that. I sleep without covering.”

Emmeline blushed more as her eyes wandered down John’s fur clad chest and everted herself as a few of her curls fell to her face. John let out a laugh as he turned for the door.

“Don’t stay up too late, your highness. Your new life starts tomorrow.”

John left Emmeline to her thoughts, smoking his pipe on the front porch as he looked back on the past day. Most of the things would have been done differently if Emmeline wasn’t in the picture. Any other woman, he would have turned back to the buyers. He would have left her in the fort or in the barn but he couldn’t stand it anymore.

John found the room dimmed when he returned, seeing Emmeline asleep and under the covers as she faced the wall. He stripped himself completely and washed himself, tossing the water out the window and wrapping himself with the spare blanket as he moved into the bed with her. He closed his eyes and tried to relax but ended up holding his breath instead.

When he did fall asleep, all he see or hear was her. No matter where his dreams lead him, she was there like a sickness. There were few words spoken between them and a few stolen glances and it was enough to take ahold of them. He heard her again as her arm draped across his waist.

“John…”

Somehow his arm had found its way around her shoulder as she pulled him close. There was a soft giggle as he turned his head into the side of her neck. Perhaps it was the Lord’s will that he kissed her neck and was on fire at once as was the magnanimous throb between his legs. Her nails raked his arms as he turned on top of her and kissed a trail down her neck.

She began to fade in his dream as the Samuel man picked her up and carried her away.

“No…”

He reached for her, looking to her one last time as a silver band appeared on her finger. She screamed his name as he took her hand and pulled her back into his arms but he couldn’t stop as he cradled her head gently while he placed a passionate kiss to her lips. The feeling was new and terrifying to him as he held her closely.

“Emma.”

The feeling in his chest tightened as he forced open his eyes.

John was directly over Emmeline as she pulled her lips from his. She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes. They both shouted and hollered as they scrambled from the bed in surprise as they were greeted with the morning sun. Emmeline shouted louder as she saw John naked and nearly ran into the wall to shield her eyes.

John grabbed his sheet and covered himself as he fled for the hallway. He caught his breath as he looked to the empty halls. Quite a way for a young woman to start her life. Waking up next to a naked man and forced into an independent life of work before she’d be dragged off to her miserable life.

He took a moment to clear his head as he looked to the door. A young unwed woman would be dragged back but a married woman on the other hand…

John bolted into the room again, making Emmeline jump as she snatched her dress from the floor.

“Good, get dressed now.”

“W-Why?”

“I have an idea, you won’t like.”

“I don’t understand.”

John huffed his breath as he jumped the bed and trapped Emmeline in the corner of the room. He pulled her close with one arm while the other held her head still. He softly kissed her lips, never knowing how to do so with a woman as Emmeline’s body slowly molded to his. Her hand reached up to pull him closer.

John snapped himself out of his daze as he pushed himself away from a panting Emmeline.

“I still don’t understand…”

“Yesterday, you would have been kicking and screaming for me to get away.”

“John…”

“Think about it. You can start a life for yourself here for a few days before your Samuel realizes you’re missing. When he comes for you, it’ll be his word over yours.”

“You’re saying I should run.”

Emmeline started in a panic as she stepped into her dress.

“Marry me.”

“That has to be the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

“I have a home. There’s barn, a stream, I can get a cow, some chickens if you want. I won’t touch you if you don’t want but it’ll better than that cow dung.”

Emmeline shook her head as she tried to think, as he guessed.

“I want a horse of my own.”

“Done.”

“Why are you doing this?”

John was at a loss for words as he fought to look her in the eyes. He snatched up the last of his clothes.

“Hurry up and get dress. You need to eat before we leave.”

“When do we leave?”

“After I find a Parson.”

They were both in their clothes and down the stairs as they both hurried with their breakfast. The owner pointed them to his brother as a group was coming from a funeral. The Parson agreed to marry them once they had rings, sending John into a terrible frustration. Emmeline rushed from the small chapel and returned with a smile on her face.

She opened up her hand showing off two rings.

“Samuel isn’t going to be using them anytime soon. I was going to sell them.”

John smirked as he took rings and presented them to the parson.

“Keep it short, we need to be gone.”

“Alright. Name?”

“John William Fitzgerald.”

“And yours, little lady?”

“Emmeline Anne Harris.”

“John, do you take Emmeline to be your bride?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And do you take John to be your lawfully wedded husband.”

“Yes, I do.”

He was happy to feel her finger curl as he slipped the ring on her finger as his was surprisingly a perfect fit.

“I know pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

John didn’t realize how slow he was as Emmeline jumped on her toes and kissed John on his lips. He barely had enough time to be surprised as she dragged him from the chapel and towards the inn. They worked together and pulled the cart from the stable as snow began to fall.

“Get in the back.”

“No, I’m staying up front with you.”

“You won’t be used to northern snow.”

“Not if we stop talking and get a move on ahead of the damn storm, John!”

He hopped up on the cart as did Emmeline. They looked over their shoulders to the edge of the town as horses from the direction of the Fort raced towards town. John snapped the reins and led them both into the wilderness to be rid of the angry shouting men behind them. The snow however would follow them home and test their tolerance to not being alone.

Jonathan opened his eyes, feeling the cold bed mocking him as he pulled on his clothes and started early for home. There was still so much anger in him and he didn’t know why but every time he looked to Emmeline, it would all go away and he would no longer be harsh as the great north.

He stopped in the corner store and bought her two patterns of cloth for her hobby, all being the reason for her last words to him burned in his mind as he started for home.

_You don’t want me here? Fine! I won’t be here come winter!_


	3. Chapter 3

The song of the wind was growing into a crescendo of howls that kept him listening as the wheels on his cart turned. It was something an old man taught him as a child as he played his fiddle. It was a gradual increase of loudness in a piece of music.

The winds traveled down the mountain, stinging the back of his neck. He didn’t feel as alone with the wind as he tucked in a small fur into the back of his jacket to keep his neck protected and warm. There was a chance it wouldn’t be that way once he reached his land. The land would be covered in snow from the fence to the barn, ready for his horse’s companion that he had promised Emmeline.

He could still remember the look of her face as they made the farm.

“You’ll have to excuse the state of it all. I wasn’t expected to bring someone back.”

“It is fine,” said Emmeline beaming as she looked over her shoulder in every direction to the land, “I’ll always have something here so I don’t seem idle.”

There was a happiness somewhere under his beard as he stopped the cart in front of the cabin. He held his breath as the door banged against the frame. He let Emmeline in first as she looked around to the dirty and hollow dwellings that belonged to John. First was the fire that was nearly roaring in no time. John was filled with nervousness having a woman in his cabin. Any other time he was _with_ a woman, it was always in town and in the shadows near the saloon to leave them once he was done but now his fingers fumbled with the buckles of his coat as Emmeline stepped around his possessions. It was the first time a woman was on his land, especially now that she was his wife…

He rushed to the bedroom to clear off most of his things from the bed and left to retrieve her belongings. He made the door when a shriek made him jump from his skin. John rushed to the bedroom as a fox raced for its life outside.

“Dammit,” he cursed to himself as he rushed for Emmeline as she was trying to catch her breath.

“It was hiding under the bed and I think I kicked it…”

John embraced her as she was trying to cease her shaking. He could feel her trembling as she slowly molded to him. There was a warm feeling beginning to radiate from him as he let her go and retrieve the rest of the things from the cart. He left Emmeline to her own wanderings as he retrieved the fresh meat from his cart for their supper.

“Here,” said Emmeline as she emerged from the room, “Let me, you must be hungry. I can take care of this…”

She smiled as she slowly pushed John aside and started their dinner with the little supplies that they had. Tomorrow he’d have to leave early to make it to the general store before the storm hit them in a few days, that way Emmeline would get more comfortable. In the morning, he would leave and hunt for the rest of the day to give her space. His only worry would be what would happen when the storm hit. He wasn’t sure of what she could do as far as skills but he only shook his head, thinking to chop up some wood after dinner as a distraction.

The meal proved to be more than he expected as she had fried up some game that he had caught and cooked up some carrots to go with it. Emmeline pushed her half-eaten plate to John as his mouth began to water more.

“I’m not all that hungry and I’d like to unpack, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Not at all.”

She nodded her head politely and disappeared in the other room as she closed the door behind her. John sat quickly devouring his meal, wondering if him talking Emmeline into marrying him was the best choice. He cleaned out the kitchen the best he could and set out to chop as much wood as he could for the night. He returned in the dark of night, using the cart to haul the armfuls of wood to the cabin porch. He was growing tired, settling the horses in the barn for the night and keeping everything ready for when he would depart in the morning.

John looked around to the inside of the cabin, seeing it as clean as it ever been as some of the wood was placed in the fireplace and the rest against the wall. He stripped off his skins and his jacket, sitting in his chair and staring at the flames. There was an uneasy feeling in his stomach as he thought about the closed door behind him.

He was now a married man to a woman he just met and he wasn’t certain to the amount of time to give her before they shared the bed. Maybe they wouldn’t share the bed. He could always make a space in the attic for himself but then again he didn’t want to close out Emmeline all together. Casting her out wasn’t something he wanted to do but she was safe away from the fort and out of the Samuel man’s reach. He was planning his next move as Emmeline had moved from the bedroom silently. John looked over his shoulder as he saw her shivering in her nightgown. She had a shawl wrapped to her arms as she tried to warm herself.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I was but the room was cold. I heard you come inside.”

“I-I’m fine here, go back to the bed.”

He turned back to the fire, taken by surprise as Emmeline climbed to his lap and curled up into a ball. John had never been more petrified in his life. He had faced danger, death, a scalping and the most dangerous animals that ever existed but he wasn’t able to fight off Emmeline as she wrapped her arm around John and held him close. He felt a stirring to his trousers as her nightgown bunched up at her bare thigh.

“You’re so warm,” she sighed into his chest as her long braid laid on her shoulder.

He felt as if his heart was to burst from his chest as Emmeline feel asleep. His fingers brushed the curls from her brow and smoothed her dress down. Her skin was warming as they sat next to the fire. John waited until she was in a deep sleep to move her again. This time, he’d leave the bedroom door open so that the fire would reach Emmeline as she slept. He tried to move but Emmeline fought him as she wrapped herself tighter to John and buried her face into his neck.

“Emmeline,” he sighed as he was caught in a further awkward state with her.

“No,” she grumbled.

He held her close with a grin as he lifted them from the chair and carried her to the bed where he softly placed her. Emmeline opened her eyes.

“Are you going to do this every night? You’re acting like I’m going to bite you.”

“I’m thinking this wasn’t the best idea, Emmeline. I’m…”

“My husband, John Fitzgerald. You already promised me that you wouldn’t be improper without my word and I’ll hold you that. You also said you sleep without covering and I will respect you, your choices and your home, John. Please don’t freeze to death on my account.”

“It isn’t that, Emmeline…”

“Please, just for tonight? I won’t look…”

He sighed as Emmeline turned under the covers to the wall. John stripped himself off and wiped himself clean with the water on the bedside table. He decided to pull on a set of sleeping pants he hadn’t worn for as long as he could remember but with Emmeline, she’d give her the modesty she deserved. John moved into the bed and put his arm around her waist, shy of both her breasts and her parts. He felt the both of them mold together at once as a howl of wind was heard outside.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Since I was a boy.”

“Where are your parents?”

“Died a while back in a rock slide. Yours?”

“I don’t remember. I just remember being younger and someone leaving me on some else’s doorstep until a few days ago.”

He tightened his arms on Emmeline. John wasn’t sure if he was going to let her go and he was glad that he didn’t. From the flicker of the fire in the other room, he could see the small cut on Emmeline’s neck from when Samuel had thrown her into the side of the cabin.

“Thank you for saving me, John.”

John let out a chuckled that startled Emmeline as she turned to face him. His beard scratched the side of her face as he looked to the ceiling.

“I really should be thanking you. I’m sure he would have killed me if you hadn’t stopped him.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispered as she went to kiss the side of his cheek.

John only turned his head by accident as Emmeline’s lips met the start of his. She was so close to him as he held himself together. She pulled back and reached up to touch the side of his face before she started to turn back. John stopped her and pressed an honest, hungry kiss to her lips. He closed his eyes and sighed at the softness of her lips as Emmeline turned back to him.

“I’m sorry,” he started but he wasn’t.

She didn’t stop him as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her harder. John stopped, out of breath and close to breaking his promise as he looked down to Emmeline.

“Please don’t stop, John.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be, John. I want you to.”

Those words rang in his ears every day until he left.

He was speechless as he looked down to her, for once unable of how to touch a woman.

“Are you…”

She bit he lip as her grip on him loosened. He could tell from the shame in her eyes.

“Would you leave if I wasn’t?”

So much anger filled John, not from her choices but for thinking the worst of him. He only reached down and carefully undid her braid as the brown hair fell to the bed.

“Never…”

He turned himself, looking down to Emmeline as he placed a kiss at her neck, continuing as his fingers slowly gathered up the bottom of her nightgown. Small sighs escaped her throat as John felt them.

“Tell me to stop, Emmeline and I will, on my life.”

“I promise but…”

She gasped as she felt his fingers on the front of her bare thigh.

“May I touch you, Emmeline?”

“Yes…”

John reached under her and spread her legs a bit to let his hand wander her warm skin. He lowered his hips to hers and rubbed himself against her. She looked down where they met with John taking notice. He took her hand and kissed her palm, leading her hand down to his cock, wrapping her fingers around him as he groaned.

“Does that hurt?”

“No,” he shuddered, “Just squeeze tighter. God, Emmeline. Please?”

She did as he asked as she clenched her fingers around his member, flushed from embarrassment and wonder as she rubbed her thighs together. He pushed his hips into her hand as he pulled on the neckline of her gown to kiss her collarbone. Emmeline watched as he wet the tips of his fingers and grinned to her.

“Spread your legs again, you won’t be disappointed.”

Emmeline nodded as she parted her legs for John. He slowly traced the inside of her thigh and met her cunt as she jumped from his touch. His fingers went further and found the familiar favorite bit of flesh that made Emmeline gasp for breath. Her grip tightened on John, nearly sending him wild as he controlled his fingers onto her clit.

He looked into Emmeline’s eyes as they tried to stay open.

“I told you,” he chuckled softly, “Now let me just look at you.”

John had never seen anything more beautiful as Emmeline pressed herself into the pillows and whined, bucking her hips into his hand. Both of her hands grabbed the mattress beneath her.

“May I touch you more?”

“Y-Yes.”

John waited until she finished speaking as he reached up and pulled her neckline further to expose her to the bedroom. His mouth dropped to her humble breasts, hovering over her skin as her heaving chest called out to him. He asked with his tongue, slowly tracing circle to her hardening flesh, from one to the next as she writhed more underneath him.

Emmeline cried out as she legs closed around John’s hand. Her wetness coated his fingertips as he moved his hand lower to feel her so wet for him. She eased herself to the bed as she looked to John. Without a word, she arched her neck up to him and took him by the lips as he pulled and tugged at her nightgown. The gown gathered her hair over her shoulder as John tossed it to the ground. He shrugged out of his pants and settled himself between Emmeline’s legs.

His cock had fallen to his hand as he pumped it a few times, threatening to release onto Emmeline. She looked between their legs as John slowly pushed his lips forward. She bit back a whine as John bent his head forward.

“Relax for me,” he whispered into her ear as he kissed her neck.

He did as someone had told him when he was younger if he ever deflowered a virgin. John took Emmeline’s lobe between his teeth and softly bite down as he pushed his hips further. His hips began to move on their own accord, sinking into Emmeline as she started to show some discomfort. He traced a path of kisses down her neck, sucking lightly on the crook as his fingers wandered between them.

John took in a deep breath feeling a pain in his cock as he remember how Emmeline felt around him. He wrapped his knuckles under the seat as he tried to slow his horses but they wouldn’t listen. He turned to the side of the cart at the last moment, releasing himself into his hand as he moved his wrist back and forth.

She had cried out, digging her nails into the skin of his back as they pierced lower down his back. He could feel her so close as he grunted into her ear. Emmeline released around his cock, grabbing onto what she could as her voice filled his ears. John used her release to approach his own as his hips thrusted into her dripping wetness. He fought the need to hiss something dirty into her ear, saving it for himself as he finally reached his peak. His arms dove underneath her, holding her steady as he emptied himself into her.

John came over the side of the cart as his seed fell in ribbons to the snow. He groaned, hissing at the frigid wind on his cock as he worked it back into his trousers. He was nearly out of breath from the memory but it was enough to make a better part of the trip pass. A few bits of sunshine made its way back, pointing him in the direction of home.

Soon it would be dark and he would be greeted with the consequences of his carelessness, whether she was there or not.


	4. Chapter 4

 

_“What the hell is that?”_

_He had come back from reaping the last of the vegetables from the field, not exactly how he wanted to spend his last day home. It had been winter, spring, summer and near the end of fall and he had grown accustom to being a married man. There was always dinner fresh on the table, his clothes would be clean, horses tended, wood chopped and his cock deep in Emmeline’s wetness every night._

_He’d never thought himself to be happy but knew that he was comfortable with Emmeline, he found himself going back to his bastardly ways._

_“Corn husk dolls. I used to make them at the fort. I’ve always wanted to sell them.”_

_He looked over Emmeline’s shoulder as she had finished putting the stew on the table. He rolled his eyes, thinking if it was the proper way for a woman to be making money. He was quiet as he finished his dinner with her in piece._

_“I’ll be sure to bring you back a horse when I get back near the end of winter. You gonna be alright here by yourself?”_

_“I know how to use my knife and the shotgun, John. I’m not all useless.”_

_She snatched their dishes and walked off to clean everything up. John could sense a change in Emmeline for a while now, perhaps she was becoming like him. The idea made him hard as he got to his feet and pressed himself into Emmeline._

_“You’re not all useless, Darling.”_

_He snaked his hand to the front of her dress and pressed as firmly as he could so that she could feel him. For a moment, she rocked her hips but changed her mind as she tried to push him away._

_“John, stop it…”_

_“Why,” he teased._

_“Because,” she shouted as she thrusted John off of her, “I don’t feel well for all that silliness, John. I’m not all for being stuffed like a brood mare.”_

_“More like a lazy cow. You’ve been feeling like one lately.”_

_He turned for the pile of gear to be strapped to the cart when he departed in the morning. John was more than ready but not for the cast iron skillet that hit the wall near his head as cold grease covered his arm._

_“What the hell did you just call me?”_

_He turned seeing blood in Emmeline’s eyes. Fury filled him as he got to his feet and stormed after her. She reached into her boot and fetched her knife, bringing it up to John’s chest as he stopped at the right time. He sneered as he looked into the eyes of pure hell._

_“You heard me. All you ever do is sit around with your little dolls, thinking you’ll fetch yourself a pretty little penny.”_

_“I’ve been walking to town on my own for a while now, John. The old man thinks it’s a wonderful idea. All I need is a damn horse that you never let me borrow!”_

_“I use the horse for working so that we have a home!”_

_“Please, this isn’t a home. It’s a damn pig sty! I’m always picking up after you! How were you alive before I came along?!”_

_“You can always leave!”_

_He knew Emmeline was speechless as she tossed her arms up in the air, fighting back her tears._

_“You don’t want me here, John Fitzgerald? Fine… I won’t be here come winter!”_

_She stormed to the bedroom and slammed the door shit with enough force to make the antlers on the wall jump. John set his fists, not ready to apologize. He never knew how to. He only gathered his supplies and left early to meet the trapping party._

Nearly three months and he held his breath as the cart made the final turn down the bend, then he would finally be home but it wasn’t what he wanted to know. The horses picked up as the cart made the first of the fences. He was able to stop them as he hopped from the cart and hurried to the barn doors. The floor was tidier than he remembered.

_Please let her be here…_

He unloaded the cart to the porch and fed his horse and Emmeline’s stolen horse. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind. The man belonging to the horse was dead anyway. Better as a gift to Emmeline if she was still there, she just had to be. If she was she would still be furious but he had a wonderful remedy for that. In the groups of twenty trappers 10 of them were married and eight of them always left their wives infuriated.

_“That’s nothing to worry about, John. In fact we didn’t think you had it in you to take a wife.”_

_“Just don’t tell anyone else or I’ll skin you myself.”_

_“Sure thing. Here’s what you do…”_

He climbed the front porch, seeing the large piles of wood in large neat piles. She had to be here…

He held his breath and opened the front door. John was greeted with a wave of heat as she closed the door behind him. The sight of cabin made him stop. There were supplies from the attic lining the far side of the wall with some that he had never seen before. He hurried to the attic stairs with a lantern, looking to the many farmed and jarred goods filling the space with a single row of room to move about should they have needed it.

Emmeline must have indeed kept herself busy while he was gone. He took a looked around the cabin, seeing it spotless in his absence. He didn’t want to admit to his dirty habits but he knew what he said before he left was uncalled for and he would make it up to his wife in the fullest extent. He undressed, leaving his clothes as neatly as he could on his chair and crept to the bedroom door.

It was left ajar as he listened for her. A small moan filled his ears as he pushed the wooden door to the wall. The bedroom wasn’t as clean as the rest of the cabin but sure enough under the many added layers of skins to the quilts, there she was. She tossed and turned as she gasped for breath in her sleep, moaning almost painfully as John circled the room. Emmeline’s hair had gotten longer as it stuck to her back.

John knelt to the edge of the bed and kissed her sweating forehead as he smelled something familiar. The pillows, his specifically, smelled like her in an intimately delicious way.

“Well, well. You’ve been busy, haven’t you, sly little minx?”

He was sure she answered him as she pulled the pillow under the skins and wrapped her legs around it. John chuckled as softly as he could as he rounded to the front of the bed.

_“Odds are that she’ll be asleep, that’ll make it better…”_

He pulled the folded part of the bedsheet from the base of the bed as he found her feet digging into the bed. He kissed her ankle, then each of her calves.

_“The smell of her is something you’ll miss but the taste…”_

_“The taste…”_

_“John, have you not tasted her?! I thought you were a married man?”_

He made to her knees as he saw the edge of his pillow between her shifting legs. Her flesh was burning under all of the furs but with the cold seeping into the room from the window, she made sure that she wasn’t going to freeze. He pressed his nose to the pillow smelling more of her. John pulled the pillow away and was greeted with the glisten of Emmeline’s thigh.

The furs covered her body down to her mound as he lifted her hips from the bed and placed the pillow under them. He rested both legs over his shoulders and fought Emmeline’s dreaming.

_“They’re always so angry but they always miss you. The things they’ll do when you get back and they get hungrier when expectant. Just start at the top…”_

John arched his head forward and gave Emmeline’s core one strong, long lick. The taste of her was more than he thought. She grabbed onto John’s hands as she cried out from his tongue pressing to her clit. His lips formed to the top of her sex as he sucked, licked, everything he was taught as more of Emmeline’s wetness fell to his tongue. She moaned and writhed, her hand braced the headboard as she rocked her hips more.

He watched Emmeline snapped herself awake and looked between her legs to John feasting on her like dinner. The furs gathered on her stomach as John reached up to grab her breast.

“John,” she moaned as she pushed his hand away and tried to close her legs to him.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped as he came up for air, “but I’ve missed you so much.”

_“Tell them you miss them, even if you don’t. They want you more…”_

He pulled the sheets away as Emmeline tried to at least keep the quilt to her body. John reached under her, thinking it was a game as he felt something odd. He felt further, looking Emmeline in the eye as her bottom lip started to tremble.

“Emmeline?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

He gently pulled the sheet away as he saw Emmeline shielding whatever part of her that wasn’t her rounded belly.

John’s mouth dropped as he looked up to her trying to hide her tears.

“Em…”

He was at a loss for words, thinking back to everything he said to her.

_“More like a lazy cow. You’ve been feeling like one lately.”_

He pressed his hand to the side of her stomach, feeling a bit of movement as any anger he ever knew vanished from him. He reached up and tried to comfort a sobbing Emmeline. John hushed her the best he could as he pulled them to the bed.

“Hush now, Darling. I’m sorry for how I acted. I…”

It didn’t matter what he said, he would always be a bastard.

“I kept on getting sick the week after you left so I went to town and got looked at. I didn’t think you were coming back…”

John grabbed the nearest fur and wrapped her as he held her close.

“Please, forgive me, Emmeline.”

“All that time, I didn’t know,” she whispered as she wiped away the last of her tears.

“I love you, Emmeline Fitzgerald.”

Emmeline smiled as she kissed John’s chapped lips.

“I love you too, John.”

“I haven’t broken a promise yet and I don’t intend to do so now, Emmeline. I got you that horse.”

“Really? It’s a shame I can’t ride it until spring.”

“Spring,” he repeated as he ran his fingers through her hair.

She pulled John down to the mattress with her and drew in his lips.

“I’ve missed you too.”

_“…and they get hungrier when expectant.”_

“I’m sure you have,” he growled into her neck as his beard made her laugh.

He pulled the fur from her body as her head fell to the pillow he braced himself over her wonderfully pregnant wife and let his mind wander to where he would start with her first. His eyes went to her fuller, supple breasts as his mouth began to water. His mouth lowered to her chest and left open, wet kisses to her skin. Emmeline’s head hit the pillow as his tongue slowly traced her nipples, blowing them so they would harden. They turned to peaks before his eyes and twisted them slowly between his fingers as Emmeline whined.

“Please, John…”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No! I need you!”

The smile under his beard widened as he traced his tip to her cunt and filled her in one solid thrust. Her sex was welcoming as the rest of her, body and all. He pulled her close and lifted her to his lap just to see if he would ease her hunger better than his pillow. Emmeline bit her lips and held John’s shoulders as she rocked her hips. John held her steady as he tried to be still for Emmeline, he owed her that much.

“Let me see you, my sweet Emmeline.”

Emmeline smiled as she moved her hips up and down his cock, nearly clasping the life from him as he grew harder for her. Emmeline grabbed the headboard as John bowed his head to her breast and suckled from her. He braced the bed with his feet and thrusted up into Emmeline as her wetness began to coat his hips. Expectant, he would have to keep like this from the reactions to every time she met his thrusts.

John suckled a bit harder, tasting a sweeter difference in her skin, knowing it wouldn’t be for him in the coming months ahead. John was all but lost in his wife as the room was filled with moans, gasps and her wetness with the coming storm beginning to howl outside. Emmeline was close as her back began to arch back, bracing his knees as she rode his cock harder. John growled, clenching his jaw as he pulled Emmeline to the pillows.

He rose to his knees, neglecting the furs behind him as Emmeline dug her nails into his arm, drawing blood form her release. Her walls were heaven as he thrashed into her like a wild animal. He looked to her eyes, sealing shut as she cried out John’s name.

“That’s my good girl, more,” he hissed as he pressed his thumb to her clit.

Emmeline could barely catch her breath as a second blissful wave washed over her. John hunched over her and sank his teeth into the side of her neck as he sucked harshly at her skin. His arm shot underneath her and held her close as he climaxed, letting the months away from Emmeline fill her to the brim as she dangled from his arms. John pried himself away as Emmeline quivered from her release.

John placed her down with the gentlest of care, softening as he pulled out of her and reached from all of the furs on the floor to cover themselves. He felt the cold seeping in as he turned Emmeline to her back and tucked most of the furs around her. John held her close as her sweating skin made him nearly hard again.

“How did you manage to get all of those supplies?”

“The corn husk dolls. Some many travelers buy them before the towns people do. I’m going to make more in the fall.”

“Well, aren’t you clever. I was thinking of trapping on my own and staying closer.”

“But you’ve been in that trapping group for so long. It’s good money for you.”

“If I go back, how is the crib going to be made?”

Emmeline answered with a giggle as John pulled the furs closer, encasing them in nothing but warmth. He held her tightly, closing his eyes as he placed a hand to Emmeline’s stomach and felt the baby kick against his hand.


End file.
